70 Long Days

A lot can happen in 70 days. For me, not so much. Rewind to May 17, my last day on the river until today. Fishing one of the local rivers I slipped, and in trying to stop from falling all my weight went on my right hand and wrist. Even though the hand was sore there was no bruising or swelling so I kept fishing. After I stopped is when the swelling showed up. A trip to the urgent care revealed a fracture in one of the small bones directly above the wrist. I was going to be on the shelf for a little bit…or so I thought.

Fast forward 10 weeks (a lot longer than I estimated) and I was cleared to begin using the hand without restrictions. Maybe age has something to do with it, as I graduated from the mid-60’s to the late 60’s in that time period. I guess if I was in my 20’s or 30’s healing would have been a lot quicker. Still, never imagined a small bone would take so long to heal.

The arrow points to the small break. 

Can't believe it took 10 weeks to heal.

(Click on image for a larger view.)

So, what did I miss? Probably the best time of the year to be on a river chasing smallies. Nothing beats throwing a topwater popper on a warm early morning. There’s still some time left for that, and today was my first day back in action. And, my outing was more to find out if my wrist and hand would hold up, as it was my casting hand. Catching a fish was secondary.

I did manage to hook into a fish. I say fish because I don’t know what it was as it never surfaced and then after a short time, threw the fly. It was heavy, putting a big bend in my 4wt rod. It didn’t fight like a smallie so I’m guessing either a carp or a catfish. Anyhow, the hand held up, and there doesn’t appear to be any lingering issues.

So, officially I’m back, and want to make up for lost time. If the rivers stay in good shape I’m going to be out there. Hopefully there’s a bunch of smallies waiting to be fooled.

This is what I am after. Another smallie fooled.

Go out and fool a fish!